Joe Wadsack: celebrating South Africa on the Dean Callan Show

“I couldn’t imagine a better place for a luxury wine school…” is the message that Joe Wadsack wants to get across over the next three weeks on the Dean Callan YouTube show.

Of all the countries you have visited and wines you have tasted why does South African have such a grip on you?

Initially it is value, plain and simple, but once you’ve had a chance to visit this extraordinary country, everything changes. You yourself know that it is one of the most beautiful wine regions in the world, with such a huge variety of scapes, flora and animal life, that you can’t fail to be called back. Couple that with the brilliant night-life and beaches of Cape Town, and you have the perfect holiday destination too.

How do the wines they are making now compare to when you were first starting out in the wine trade as a wine buyer?

It was no secret that when I started buying wine in this country for J Sainsbury, back in 1995, that being the South African wine buyer was seen as a bit of a poisoned chalice. Apartheid may have ended officially, but mind-sets behind the boerworsdraap hadn’t. (The “boar sausage curtain”, is an imaginary line between those the towns where you learn English as your first language, and those further into the bush, where Afrikaans is still taught as the first language at schools.)

Wines were either very good from established old vine or brand new established vineyards, very much in the minority, or filthy,  shoddily grown, virus ridden vines making rubbery, burnt-smelling wines exacerbated by very high char oak barrels. It’s no surprise that when Western Wines waltzed in with all their ex Penfolds and English wine-buying know-how, that they took the rest of the world to the cleaners. But that wasn’t to come for five years. Buying cheap meant buying risky.

Now, it is almost impossible to buy poor wine even from some of the oldest most established wine co-ops. Windmeul Kelder (Windmill Cellar) in Paarl makes double gold award-winning Chenin Blanc and Pinotage every year, and can be bought for the UK supermarket shelf with a retail less than £8 pounds, if people aren’t greedy. It’s a different world..

What do you think have been the key step changes in how South Africa has developed?

Systematic international standard high-quality education of winemakers at Stellenbosch University has to be considered a factor. Blue chip centres of learning with leading global research programmes have, in recent times, pre-empted huge steps forward in wine quality and style. UC Davis California in the 70s, Roseworthy in Australia in the 80s, Geisenheim in Rheingau in the 90s. Stellenbosch is one such place.

Which regions and styles really stand out for you and why?

There are so many. And the fact that almost every region has a specialty makes South African wine much easier to navigate, and perhaps more importantly, to market. Elgin Chardonnay, Durbanville (now called DO Cape Town) Sauvignon Blanc, Swartland Chenin Blanc and perhaps greatest of all, Stellenbosch Cabernet would have to be high on my list.

Any areas that you have your eye on that you think have the most potential going forward?

Cabernet Franc from cooler maritime sites like DO Walker Bay and right down the coast in Sondagskloof really appeal to me, and are finally coming of age. Cabernet Franc and Bordeaux Blends have immense potential in my opinion.

You are looking to bring all this love and passion to life with some live sessions with Dean Callan – for those who don’t know Dean can you introduce him to us and how do you know each other?

You know when you go to a world-class, expertly run bar, especially one filled with other bartenders, and your observation skills start to notice that virtually everybody of any importance in the bar is slightly facing in their direction of one bartender, or perhaps a person on the other side of the bar (and they are ALWAYS at the bar), Dean’s that guy.

His prolific work ethic, knowledge and skill behind the bar, and his positivity and charm have made him and industry superstar. There isn’t a single famous cocktail bat in the world where he wouldn’t be greeted by the reaction, “Hoiy Shit! That’s Dean Callan!”

His modesty is also something that you notice about him straight away. He’s a good listener, has a curious mind, and typifies the infectious enthusiasm that I have always tried to bring to my own oeuvre with wine. I can’t remember the first time I met Dean. I doubt many can. After being pivotal in helping create and promote one of the great whisky successes of the last ten years, Monkey Shoulder, forced gardening leave allowed him to take stock, and build and develop a fully functioning bar cum recording studio in his garden shed. This is where he/we broadcast The Dean Callan Show from.

How did this idea come together to show off some of wines on his show?

Dean suggested that using our laid-back jocular delivery might be a popular way to introduce wine to his viewers, most of which are highly competent, expert bartenders with more than a working knowledge of spirits, but also relatively uninformed in matters of wine. The way wine is taught doesn’t really translate well in this environment and this felt like a fun idea that would pay back the Veritas Awards for all the wonderful hospitality that they have show me personally over the past several years.

Of all the wine countries where wines are easily accessible, South Africa is the best for teaching people from scratch. The varietal expressions are very pure; Cab tastes like Cab, Sauvignon like Sauvignon, Viognier..well you get the idea. But it also has a highly evolved sense of region and terroir, which makes it a simple task to take a student from beginner to intermediate.It also has wine history older then virtually all the famous wine regions in the world, including Bordeaux (which ostensibly only started making fine red wine at the end of the 18th century. The first written reference to a Bordeaux chateau is in Samuel Pepys’ Diaries, some thirty years after wine growing started in South Africa.) I couldn’t imagine a better place for a luxury wine school.

You are also going to be showing some wines that are winners in the South Africa’s Veritas Wine Awards – can you explain
the significance of those awards and what it means for the winning wines?

We (a panel of expert taster, but domestic and foreign made up of merchants, writers and winemakers) judge around 3,500 wines each year, culminating in only a handful, say 40, being awarded the top rating, a double gold. I chose only to demonstrate what South Africa is capable of using these top scoring wines, simply because it is nearly impossible to argue that the quorum got those wines wrong. They include some of the finest wines earth.

You are also having some wine guests on the show to talk South African wine as well – who do you have lined up?

(Click here to watch the first episode in the series featuring guest wine writer and broadcaster Helena Nicklin)

Yes, we will have a live camera link with a guest each week. People have been very generous with their time, and I wanted to use people that were comfortable in front of the camera. Last week it was Helena Nicklin (@Helenasips) from Amazon’s The Three Drinkers, chatting about Chenin and Pinotage. On March 19, it will be Olly Smith tasting Durbanville Sauvignon Blancs and Robertson Chardonnays, then finally on March 26th, my mate Helen McGuinn of Saturday Kitchen will plow through four amazing Stellenbosch Cabernet Sauvignons.

You are also giving the trade a chance to taste and see some of these gold medal winning Veritas wines in the summer – what are your plans for that?

I thought it would be prudent to give the capital a week to get over the novelty of drinking in a pub again, but then I have reserved the upstairs of The White Horse on Parson’s Green, Fulham to show almost every double gold from the Veritas competition from the past two years. Approximately 60 of them in fact. Many won’t be available over here yet,  which might be a rich seam to mine for prospecting importers. This will be on Tuesday July 6.

Who are you opening the tasting up to? Who can attend?

We will run two sessions until early evening. I would welcome any legitimate trade member, including MW students, for whom this would be a tasting not to miss, I imagine. Just email me to say if you’d like to come between 11am and 3pm or 3pm and 7pm to joewadsack@gmail.com

You have also been running your own online drinks show across lockdown – The Drinks Coach – tell us about that?

I just filmed my 100th episode! Can you believe that? Ferrari Brut of Trentino kindly furnished me a bunch of delicious sparkling wines to celebrate this momentous occasion. I decided, with the help of my old friends at CUBE communications to start a talking head channel on YouTube called The Drinks Coach UK. It is designed to entertain as well as inform, and could be on absolutely any topic related to booze. Paul Scarret of Soho Street Cocktails also donated a load of very high quality RTD cocktails for the show too. He makes a mean espresso martini in a 1.5 litre pouch. That’ll keep me going on my birthday this Saturday.

How has it been going and what sort of people are you going to and the feedback you get?

I have been very surprised by the loyal following of viewers from overseas, some who I have met while lecturing on luxury cruises, but some from the most unusual countries across the globe that really enjoy the content. My wine shows tend to be a little more erudite, and the sprits shows tend to be aimed at the less knowledgeable, exactly the opposite of Dean’s channel. Now you can see why we think we make a good fit.

If producers and brands want to get involved how do they do that?

Always happy to do the odd sponsored show, because in the main, it is very time consuming, and I make nothing fro the show. So, any generics or retailers out there who want to show interesting drinks, contact me via social media on @vinesack or @drinkscoachuk or at <joewadsack@mac.com.

What are you most looking forward to doing when lockdown is over and we can go out and play again?

I want to drink five pints of Guinness at the Hope on Wandsworth Common with my mate Richard Siddle. And perhaps start with a daiquiri. I really miss Soho too. So perhaps The Lyric Pub in Soho for a pint of Beavertown Gamma Ray then oysters and muscadet at Randall and Aubin on Brewer Street round the corner. Hop over the road, and no night is complete without a Pink Chihuahua in El Camion.

What are you drinking?

A margarita made from OCHO Reposado, a superb tequila.

Which restaurant are you looking forward to going to ?

Dumpling Legends in Chinatown, or Randall and Aubin for fish soup, the lobster and chips. Or Barrafina for tapas on Elisabeth Street.

What are you eating?

Minestrone Soup (Been enjoying my Oddbox veg orders throughout lockdown.)

• You can watch Joe Wadsack and Dean Callan on YouTube at 7pm March 12, 19 and 26 talking South African Wines here. 
• Watch Joe Wadsack on his Drinks Coach YouTube channel here. 

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